The Familiar
by GoldenQuill7
Summary: Merlin's apprentice asks him why he doesn't have a familiar like the other great magicians of history. Merlin gets competitive... And doesn't realise that he is being masterfully manipulated. Bit of Arthur/Merlin bromance at the end.


A.N. I'm procrastinating really hard right now. Yay, fic! I don't know if I'll be continuing with _Loathly_ and _Painted_ - they're a bit far from the original content of the show I think, and I'm trying to rework them into something original. Enough about those - onward with the fic!

Disclaimer: None of this is mine, except for Lunette. I know I use OCs a lot but I like her and Merlin's dynamic.

* * *

"Merlin?"

"Yes, Lunette?"

"Do you have a familiar?"

Merlin peered up at his apprentice over the tops of his half-moon glasses, pausing in his perusal of a new volume on temporal magic.

"A what?"

Lunette's dark olive face was resting on her hands, clearly tired of the morning's quiet study. She sighed, leaning back to stretch in her seat with a groan before replying.

"A familiar. You know, an animal that is bound to your magic. Like a pet but more… Wizard-y."

"I wasn't aware that I needed one."

"Merlin, I assure you, all of the great wizards have a familiar."

His eyebrow quirked at that remark, and he straightened up and puffed his chest out ever so slightly.

"All of them?"

"Yes," Lunette replied casually, tucking a spiral of her curly black hair behind one ear "I just assumed you might… But no matter."

She turned back to her book with an impassive expression upon her young face, but Merlin was too distracted by this point.

"Er… What kind of animal…?"

"Oh, usually a cat or some kind of reptile. Balrog the Bonkers had a weasel, but he's probably not someone who example you want to follow."

"Why not dogs?"

"Too stupid," Lunette replied, turning the page of the book she was reading without looking up "They get overexcited, see?"

"Dragons…?"

"They have their own magic, and they're sentient of their own accord."

"I see," Merlin replied, thinking hard "D'you know any others?"

"Polly the Pernicious had a particularly intelligent newt, but it turned out to actually be a man who had refused to marry her."

Merlin was stupefied.

"So she turned him into a _newt_?"

"As I understand it, he got better eventually." Lunette remarked with a wicked grin that looked out of place on her deceptively sweet features.

"Any other suggestions that aren't completely insane?" Merlin asked weakly.

"I believe Orwen of Orkney kept a bat, which wasn't too bad except he had to become nocturnal to keep it company."

Merlin was leaning forward, thoughts of his previous occupation decidedly lost. He knew he was a better magician than the likes of Polly or Orwen, and did not like the thought of being outdone by them in any respect.

"But cats are alright?"

Lunette's dark eyes lit up ever so slightly, and she nodded enthusiastically.

"I may have to think about it."

* * *

"So how does one go about acquiring a familiar?"

It was a few days after their initial conversation on the matter, and Lunette was helping Merlin distribute magical remedies to the Lower Townsfolk.

"Well, I _did_ happen across a chapter about it in _Phylum's Bestiary_ the other day…" Lunette began, hoisting the strap of the satchel she carried higher on her shoulder with some effort "But I'm having some trouble recalling… This bag's really heavy."

"_Lunette_…"

"Fine," she took the satchel off, and murmured a few words to it. The straps contorted to form springy legs of sorts upon which it rested, and Merlin swore that the tassel at one side wagged like a tail. As she continued to walk, it bounded after her, contents clinking comically as they went.

"What? I'm sure you used magic plenty of times for your chores when you were the king's manservant!" she said defensively before he could vocalise the reproving words that were already on his tongue.

"This is _character-building_, Lunette!"

She looked affronted.

"I've plenty of character already!"

"Yes, as I am coming to realise, you do," Merlin rubbed the side of his face wearily before reprising his original query "So, familiars?"

"Well, Phylum describes a sort of telepathic incantation… Has to be done beneath the sky at a full moon. If the sorcerer in question does not possess a specific animal to which they wish their magic to be bound, the spell summons a creature to that purpose."

"Any creature?" Merlin frowned "That leaves a lot to chance."

"I think the idea is that the wizard will attract a creature with which they are predisposed to hold an affinity."

"Is that a direct quote?"

"… Perhaps."

Merlin sighed, trying very hard to hide his admiration at his apprentice's ability to retain information from her studies.

He had first spotted her in the market, enchanting hundreds of coloured ribbons to fly around like tiny serpents over the heads of the crowd, looping and twirling around obstacles before gathering together in a tangle and exploding into a thousand shimmering leaves that sprinkled the throng, to general delight. It had been a beautiful piece of magic, but what had caught Merlin's attention was the sheer joy on Lunette's face, caught up in the thrall of creating something beautiful, in a way she so obviously loved. Her precocity was but a contributing factor to Merlin's offer to teach her – the initial honour and prestige of which seemed to have worn off as she became more accustomed to his tutelage.

"So," she cut into his recollections "Are you going to do it?"

"Perhaps," he mimicked her "Are you going to stop your bag from socialising with the other dogs?"

Lunette's gaze followed Merlin's finger, which pointed to her satchel being sniffed at curiously by the mutts of the Lower Town. Unperturbed, she put two fingers in her mouth and let out an ear-splitting whistle – the satchel tore toward her, the bottles inside chinking against one another.

"Lunette,"

"Yes?"

"It's a_ bag_, don't _pat_ it for – oh, never mind…"

* * *

"Who's a lovely birdie then?"

Merlin opened his eyes blearily, and felt his back screaming in protest at the uncomfortable position in which he had fallen asleep, draped across his large armchair. The cooing noise was coming from Lunette, who had sneaked in undetected and was currently feeding ham – from _his_ breakfast plate – to the handsome tawny owl currently perched on the railing of the staircase.

"Leave me some, would you?"

Lunette jumped at the sound of his voice, then grinned unabashedly.

"Is this...?"

"… What followed me home last night, yes."

"He's _gorgeous_! Aren't you? _Aren't you_? Yes, you're so smart, yes you are!" she scratched the owl under its chin and it hooted appreciatively, clearly happy to be fed and adored. Merlin rubbed his eyes, still foggy with lack of sleep but slowly coming around.

"Lunette?"

"Hmm?"

"Don't think I'm going to let you shirk your studies to play with Archie." Merlin warned, standing up and stretching.

"He has a _name!"_

"He's my familiar now; he is a creature of magic, not a canary."

Lunette and Archie, however, had become good friends in the time Merlin had taken to wake up, and both fixed him with a beady stare before resuming their affectionate game. Merlin crossed the room and was about to open the door to leave, but it swung open before he could reach it. Arthur appeared from behind it, soaked to the skin.

"Merlin, there's a weather situation in the –" he stopped at the sight of Archie, who was now perched on Lunette's forearm, being fed the remainder of Merlin's breakfast, before looking at the bedraggled Merlin questioningly. The latter shook his head and motioned to lead the way, leaving the pair behind.

"The owl is my familiar. Lunette has adopted him. Where's the flood?"

"It's not a flood, it's just raining. _Inside_ the armoury… Why on earth did you want a familiar?"

"I'm starting to think I was coerced by my apprentice," they were walking down the corridor now, which was quiet save for the sound of Arthur's squelching boots and the distant, unmistakeable sound of falling water "Where did the rain come from?"

"It seems that Sir Wulfric tried his hand at a spell that would clean his weapons for him, and overdid the water part," Arthur deadpanned, long since immune to the oddities that magic had brought to his life.

"Oh, I did that once with your armour – Gaius wasn't happy. I almost flooded his chambers," Merlin remembered with a chuckle "Your armour was clean though."

"Really? As I recall, when you were my manservant, _nothing_ was ever clean."

"You could have hired George already, I kept telling you."

"Then I'd have been bored for the past twenty years instead of ten." Arthur's smile turned mischievous "If you ever want your old job back-"

"Which I don't, but thanks anyway," Merlin replied irreverently.

"Worth a try. How is "teacher" treating you, come to that?"

They had reached the armoury. Merlin stopped and faced Arthur.

"Sometimes, I think saving the kingdom from evil and certain peril is easier," he said seriously, and Arthur raised his eyebrows.

"You're exaggerating, Merlin,"

"Am I?" Merlin rolled up the sleeves of his wizard robes with a mundane air, muttered the words of a charm to make himself impervious to water, and pushed the doors open to reveal the tempest within.

He strode right in without a second thought - he'd faced worse.

* * *

Reviews are met with my flailing and eternal gratitude, just so you know!


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